Young Tonumaipea


Yee-Huang "Young" Tonumaipea is a Samoan international professional rugby league footballer who plays on the for the Gold Coast Titans in the NRL.

Early life

Born in Apia, Samoa, Tonumaipea moved to Melbourne, Victoria, Australia at a young age and attended Roxburgh Secondary College.
He played his junior rugby league for the Northern Thunder in the Melbourne Rugby League before joining the Melbourne Storm.

Playing career

Early career

Tonumaipea played for the Storm's S. G. Ball Cup team in 2009 and their NYC team in 2011 and 2012. At the end of 2012, Tonumaipea won the Storm's NYC player of the year award. In 2013, Tonumaipea played for the Storm's New South Wales Cup team, the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, and was in the Sharks' NSW Cup grand final winning side that defeated the Windsor Wolves 36-8.

2014

In February 2014, Tonumaipea was included in the Storms' inaugural 2014 Auckland Nines squad. In round 1 of the 2014 NRL season, Tonumaipea made his NRL debut for the Melbourne Storm against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles on the wing in the Storms' 23-22 golden point win. In round 3, against the Newcastle Knights, Tonumaipea scored his first NRL career try in the Storm's 28-20 win at AAMI Park. In round 6, in a match against the St George Illawarra Dragons, Tonumaipea scored a try after the full-time siren to win to the game for the Storm 28-24 after they had been behind 24-10 in the second half. Tonumaipea was selected to play for Samoa in the 3 May 2014 Pacific Rugby League International against Fiji. Tonumaipea played on the wing in the 32-16 win at Penrith Stadium; Tonumaipea had a try disallowed in the match. On 28 May 2014, Tonumaipea re-signed with the Storm for a further 2 years, keeping him at the club until the end of the 2016 season. Tonumaipea finished his debut year in the NRL with him playing in 14 matches and scoring 3 tries for the Storm.

2015

On 23 January 2015, Tonumaipea was named in the Storm's 2015 Auckland Nines squad.

2016

Tonumaipea was named the Storm's 2016 Auckland Nines squad. He did not appeared in the 2016 NRL Grand Final against the Cronulla Sharks. He played 12 matches and 2 tries.

2017

Tonumaipea was named the Storm's 2017 Auckland Nines squad and he was captained for the Storm with Kenny Bromwich. On 5 February at 2017 Auckland Nines against the Newcastle Knights, he scored a try in the 20-10 win, a try in the Storms' 25-12 win at the quarter finals against the North Queensland Cowboys and a try in the Storms' 16-21 loss over the Sydney Roosters at the semi-final at Eden Park. He played 5 matches and 3 tries for the Nines and in the NRL, he played 7 matches and 2 tries. On 6 October, Tonumaipea was selected the Samoa 24-men squad for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup campaign. On 11 November in the 2017 Rugby League World Cup against Scotland national rugby league team, Tonumaipea scored his first international try for Samoa in the 14 all draw at Barlow Park in Cairns and he played at fullback, but Samoa progressing on for-and-against average finals series. He played 4 matches and 1 try in the World Cup tournament.

2018

In May 2018 he announced he would be leaving his club in July, after the State of Origin series, to complete a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints over in Germany for two years.

2020

Got a second chance signing with the Gold Coast Titans playing in centers.